Page 63 of Pay the Piper

“Mmph,” Ellie says around a mouthful of popcorn. “She’s one of my absolute favorites. People don’t give her enough credit. Yes, she was beautiful. But her comedic timing was second to none, and just because her persona and fame took on a life of their own, everyone’s forgotten how damn funny she was.”

“I’ll admit I don’t know anything except the platinum hair and billowing dress. Oh, and seducing President Kennedy.”

At that, she rolls her eyes. “That’s what I’m talking about! She was so much more. Part of the problem is that she was so damn good at flipping the switch.”

“The switch?”

“Yeah, you know, public versus private. Which I can kind of relate to. Allegedly, she was so good at “turning on Marilyn” that you could walk down the street with her quietly, then when she flipped the switch into her movie star persona, people would immediately start recognizing her.”

A bright smile in the face of flashbulbs while Conor digs his fingers into a bruise on my hip, hidden from the view of the cameras. Feigning ignorance as I talk to Conor’s associate’s wife about her hydrangeas, when I know her husband was inside me less than twenty-four hours ago. Gazing up at Conor like he’s the love of my life and I’m so proud of his accomplishments as mayor when I know he took ten million away from women’s and children’s charities and funneled it into his own pockets. Pretending to be so tired from a gala that I excuse myself, when really Conor misjudged my dosage for the evening and I’m coming down sooner than he planned.

“You must know a little about the switch, too,” Ellie whispers.

Luckily, before I have to answer for what I was thinking about, the opening credits roll, and we’re swept into 1950s Paris.

By the time Audrey Hepburn has completed her journey to full fashion icon status at the end of the movie, Nonna and Ellie are both asleep, softly snoring. Giulia quietly rises from the couch and helps me up, and we tiptoe into the kitchen.

“They usually nap for an hour or so, then wake up rested and ready to cause more chaos,” she laughs quietly. “I could use a coffee. Would you like one?”

“That sounds wonderful, thank you.”

As she moves with practiced ease toward a monstrosity of a coffee machine that would look more at home in a gourmet shop than a private home, I bask in the warmth of the homey kitchen.

“Did you enjoy the movie?”

“I did. The age gap between Audrey and Fred Astaire threw me a bit, though. Was it—”

“Thirty years,” Giulia says with a wince. “Certainly one of the bits of the older movies that you notice much more these days.”

She places my cup before me first, then moves back to make her own.

“My grandmother was a seamstress during her youth back in Italy. She loved watching any movie she could, just so she could explain to anyone who would listen what the different fabrics were, how they chose colors to complement the actress’s complexion, things like that. I never inherited her talent for sewing, but I did learn quite a bit about my season—I’m a deep winter, and Elia is an autumn.”

“I’ve never done a color analysis. Or sewn anything, really. I was always either outside or at the skating rink as a kid. My parents were definitely the ‘get outside’ type. Not that there’s anything wrong with being inside…”

With a bit of steamed milk, she finishes off her coffee and comes to sit beside me with a wry smile on her face.

“I don’t take your difference in childhood activities as a slight against my parenting, dear. Are you close with your parents?”

Fuck. I’m trapped in the kitchen with Ellie’s mom, and she wants to know about my childhood. I should’ve known. This is classic safe conversation territory for moms—to talk about other moms. Shit, shit, shit. Flip the switch.

“I was! Very close. They’ve passed, unfortunately.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you know that I’m always here if you need anything. We might come off a bit intense at times, but there’s plenty of love in this house.”

“I can tell. You and Mr. Santori are so cute together, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

A soft smile and a twinkle in her eye make it obvious that the spark is definitely still there.

“Not at all. We are, aren’t we? He and I have been in love for a very long time, and although we’ve had our ups and downs, I wouldn’t change a single second of it. There’s no other person in the world who could make me feel so safe. I’ve never had to change myself an ounce for him.”

A love like that would have seemed unimaginable to me even a month ago, but now…

“You know, the time between meeting him and being married with a baby on the way felt like a whirlwind. Especially knowing what he…well, let’s just say some things might have been red flags, as you kids say these days. But none of that mattered to me. It might have been naivety at the time, but as I said, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Well, I’ve always heard that when you know, you know.”

“Precisely.”